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SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Tuesday that he will veto a universal health care bill that is headed for his desk, claiming the measure would set up a "vast new bureaucracy" that would be too expensive. The Republican governor said the single-payer system proposed by Sen. Sheila Kuehl would "cost the state billions and lead to significant new taxes on individuals and businesses, without solving the critical issue of affordability. "I won't jeopardize the economy of our state for such a purpose," the governor said in a statement. Kuehl, D-Santa Monica, said Schwarzenegger's comments indicated he "has not read the...

SACRAMENTO - Democrats and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are close to an agreement on a deal that would impose sanctions on prescription drug companies that fail to offer discounts to the poor, both sides said Tuesday. The governor's office said negotiations were continuing and would not confirm the specifics of the deal. But Democrats said drug companies would have three years to comply voluntarily or face being taken off the preferred drug list used by Medi-Cal, which provides about $4 billion in drugs annually to poor and elderly people. "It looks like we might have an agreement that would provide broad...

It seems Arnold Schwarzenegger can’t get enough of the liberals. From expanded health-care programs at grade school levels to lowering health-care costs and reducing the number of uninsured Californians, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is wooing liberal voters. He has also heaped praise on Al Gore's global warming movie, which should serve the Republican governor well in this otherwise eco-centric, deep blue state. Facing state Treasurer Phil Angelides, his ultra-liberal opponent in the November election, Schwarzenegger is casting his net in a leftward direction. The Los Angeles Times reports that Schwarzenegger aides say the governor is seeking to respond to critics who...

LOS ANGELES - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Monday asking state department heads to develop plans for spending $240 million creating electronic medical records for rural communities and health safety-net providers. The order also seeks ideas on developing public-private partnerships to improve information technology for hospitals, doctors and other health care providers. The governor made the announcement at a health summit in Los Angeles where he brought together leaders from business, labor unions, universities and patient advocacy groups to explore ways to lower health care costs and insure more people. Schwarzenegger also announced he wants to create new...

Lowering health care costs and reducing the number of uninsured Californians will be top priorities for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2007, if he wins his re-election fight this fall. With those goals in mind, the governor will convene an invitation-only summit today to pick the brains of labor leaders, business executives and elected officials. The governor "cares passionately" about covering more people and lowering health care costs, said his health secretary, Kim Belshé. In advance of the summit, Belshé announced Saturday that the administration now supports a drug-discount plan for 5 million Californians who earn up to three times the...

Criticized for failing to offer substantial remedies for California's healthcare problems, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger today will propose installing new medical clinics in as many as 500 elementary schools, his aides said. The multimillion-dollar plan is related to an election-year decision by the Republican governor to embrace healthcare as an issue. Schwarzenegger's aides said he also hopes to propose ways to cut medical costs industrywide. California already has 140 school medical clinics. Schwarzenegger would add to those and use them, in part, to enroll more children in government insurance programs such as Healthy Families and Medi-Cal, which are used by low-income...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration on Saturday defended his proposal requiring drug companies to give discounts to up to five million uninsured, low-income residents within five years or face state sanctions. California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe said the Republican governor's election-year plan was better than Democratic bills he has vetoed the last two years. Schwarzenegger has unsuccessfully pushed a voluntary plan since taking office, and the one he formally announced Saturday gives drug companies five years to comply on their own terms - with a stick at the end if they don't, Belshe said at a Capitol news...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will propose a new plan Saturday requiring drug companies to give discounts to low-income residents within five years or face state sanctions, Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe said Friday. The plan is similar to Democratic proposals the governor has rejected in the past. Under the new proposal, drug companies would have five years to offer discounts to people who earn less than three times the federal poverty level, or about $60,000 a year for a family of four. Companies that do not cooperate could be cut out of the state's Medi-Cal program, which provides...